I FLY

Very true. I have been WFH since March last year. I had a friend make me a wooden computer desk and I work on my semi enclosed patio everyday. This time of the year I start off wearing hoodie, beanie and gloves. By midafternoon I am in shorts and T shirt. My patio faces North.

This condition is called Sherman' neck - named after a cyclist called Michael Sherman . He was doing the Race Across America in 1983 when the condition hit him.

And also my last road race. It's the only road race I have done annually since about 2010.

We work on construction sites building tailings dams. Our lightning safety instructions if you are caught in the open are:- 1. Squat down on your toes. ie dont have feet flat on ground ( not sure why) 2. Head down 3. Hands over ears.

I got 3 wind assisted PRs yesterday so some benefit to being out in the wind.

We had that cold , strong wind for our ride on Saturday morning in Jhb and a wet ,strong wind ride in the Raithby trails yesterday. Woke up this morning to some rain . Hopefully it will clear up later so we can go for a ride after work.

I arrived in Somerset West on Sunday to strong winds and rain. Still raining this morning. Hopefully we will get some days like in the photo before we go back to Johannesburg.

My retirement plans ( which have been delayed until Dec 2022) are to buy a van and shuttle between JHB and Cape Town stopping at all the interesting places to ride a bike. The pass is definitely on the to-do list.

We went down to Reitz for the Bieliemielie 3 day Mtb race. Routes were mostly gravel roads but there were some decent single tracks as well. I really enjoy these small community races. Reitz is home to a very large wolf sanctuary- over 200 of them. Photo is of a 18 month old male wolf

Gamesmanship out of the playbook. " I have been here for so long I came to look for you" I

Seeing the 4 years that Greg has won the WC reminded me that I was privileged to be present at two of these wins. 2003 in Switzerland and 2013 in Pietermaritzburg.

Some photos of the snow on our ride from Firgrove to the top of Helshoogte yesterday. Surprisingly for an ex Durbanite and used to heat and humidity I set a PR up Helshoogte it was very cold coming back down into Stellenbosch

As a blissfully unaware part timer in Somerset West my wife and I went out on the R304 and back on the R44 on Saturday morning. And we have ridden up Helshoogte on a few occasions. We have always done these on a weekend morning well after sunrise. We saw lots of riders on the R304.

I have been living in Somerset West for 50% of each month for more than a year because of Dale’s pictures

I will send you Andrew Lucas details via dm he collects bike from your house

Thanks. after I had a very mild covid infection I built up slowly again ( I am 63) as I lost a friend who started too fast after he had covid 1st week 20 minutes at walking pace HR 2nd week 40 minutes at walking pace HR 3rd week kept HR below 70% of max I have no commonalities so that helps. Non smoker and non drinker as well

Why the break after 2 nd vaccination? Just curious as I can’t find anything that advocates this. Another rider from my CT group did the same just because he felt like a rest

We try go out to Rooiels as early as possible on a Sunday morning to avoid the pilgrimage to Hermanus . and we have bright flashing lights front and rear. very nice coffe stop just before you get back into Gordon Bay

I was just about to ask the same question. Mud shedding?

Bruce Fordyce always thanked his parents for passing down good genes.

Done this twice although I did stop during the meetings at top of G Spot in Stellenbosch and at top of view point of Steynrus Dam overlooking Gordons Bay. Best reception for a long time

I had very mild cold symptoms two weeks ago which disappeared after 4 days. I decided to be cautious and go for a covid test which came back positive. So now I am doing 7km rides around the estate at a very sedate pace for a week and then building up week by week for the next month. I cannot believe I am being this sensible. But a number of my old teammates have died already so best I be patient rather than be a patient

Black sparrow hawk about 50cm. Big enough to prey on pigeons

My cars have cambelts and were changed at 120 000kms. My cars are serviced every year regards less of kms travelled. I have worked in preventative maintenance environments my whole adult life and adopt the same approach to my private belongings - Maintain/Replace before broken. I was also a driver on the Angolan border for 18 months so preventative maintenance became 2nd nature. Rather get dirty and greasy in camp than stuck in the middle of the bush waiting for a recovery vehicle.

This year will be the 1st time in 5 years that the servicing of my cars will cost more than that of my bicycles. It's because two of my cars will have major 180 000 km services instead of the normal routine ones and not because my bike services have reduced At my current rate of driving my cars will never need another major service. Bikes on the other hand ????